Overview
- The military judge ruled the 2007 FBI interviews inadmissible after finding prosecutors failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the statements were voluntary, a decision issued Friday.
- The judge said the 2007 FBI sessions were tainted by an "unbroken continuation" of prior CIA psychological conditioning and severe coercion, linking later admissions to earlier torture including extensive waterboarding.
- Chief prosecutor Rear Adm. Aaron Rugh said the prosecution team will review the ruling and has a limited window to decide whether to appeal, a step that could add months or years to pretrial litigation.
- The excluded statements had been described by prosecutors as central to their case, so their loss raises the odds that the conditionally set June 5, 2028 trial will be postponed and that the government will rely more on documents, intercepts and other contested evidence.
- Other co-defendant confessions remain under judicial review and past suppressions in related Guantánamo cases show how the CIA's enhanced interrogation legacy continues to shape evidence rules, custody options and the prospects for final resolution for victims’ families.